Marin probation department's parolee program wins high marks

MARIN COUNTy criminal justice staffers won high praise this week for developing a progressive program that handles nonviolent inmates and parolees formerly supervised by the state.

The program, headed by probation department officials with help from the county sheriff, district attorney, public defender, court and health department staff, as well as Novato police, was hailed by the Board of Supervisors as a model for other communities.

Marin County Hall of Justice officials stepped up after passage of AB 109, Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to curb prison crowding and cut spending by $1.4 billion by requiring counties to deal with "nonviolent, nonserious and nonsex" offenders and adult parolees formerly handled by the state. The law took effect a year ago.

With a first-year state grant of $1.3 million and another $4.5 million for this fiscal year, officials put together a program that deals with inmate and parolee supervision and monitoring, in-custody treatment including mental health and drug detoxification, and help finding housing and jobs.

As inmates including San Quentin parole violators formerly housed by the state are diverted to the county jail, the program has worked to handle the influx with skilled supervision while focusing on public safety, according to Chief Probation Officer Michael Daly.

"We're supervising the people who have come out of prison very well," Daly told county supervisors. "We've had great success."

Of 37 "high risk" or "very high risk" parolees, housing has been found for 28. Thirteen of the group are living in Novato, 11 in San Rafael, five in Marin City and eight in other locales.

Sheriff's Lt. Jamie Scardina said that while "the collaborative efforts of all these groups" have provided a smooth transition, a more savvy jail population has developed, with inmates who used to be in state prison being "a lot more sophisticated" about life behind bars.

"We're seeing weapons we've not seen before," he said of devices made with razor blades. "We're in the major leagues now," Scardina said. "They are very intelligent when it comes to inmate sophistication."

Although door locks have been tampered with, no major incidents have been reported, and the jail's population of about 300 inmates is at an "about average" level, he said.

More jail beds have been available because criminal activity overall has ebbed — and the county is diverting nonviolent inmates from jail to participate in various alternative programs, so there is room for arrivals once handled by the state, officials said.

Sixteen inmates were sentenced to county jail in the past year who otherwise would have gone to state prison. There were 67 instant or "flash" parolee and post-release bookings, and 185 cases of other parole violators who spent time in jail under the new procedure.

County supervisors were effusive in their praise for a program that seems to be working well.

"We are an example to our fellow counties and state," said Supervisor Susan Adams. "You are to be congratulated," Supervisor Judy Arnold told Daly and other staffers.

Supervisor Kate Sears called it a "model for collaboration" and suggested that programs dealing with the result of crime be balanced with jobs "at the front end" to put people on the right track to begin with.

To a large degree, the Marin program's success was forecast by Daly and County Administrator Matthew Hymel last year. "I think that we're positioned well because we already provide innovative programs in lieu of jail incarceration and traditional probation," Hymel said then, noting the county's progressive justice programs. "From a financial point of view, the ongoing concern is that the funding remain in place."

"We want this to succeed," District Attorney Ed Berberian told the supervisors this week, noting officials hope the state continues to provide the funding it has promised.